Michael Connelly - 26.2 Miles to Boston: A Journey into the Heart of the Boston Marathon

26.2 Miles to Boston

26.2 Miles to Boston

A Journey into the Heart of the Boston Marathon

Michael Connelly

LYONS PRESS

Guilford, Connecticut

An imprint of Globe Pequot Press

Courtesy of the Boston Athletic Association

Copyright 2014 by Michael Connelly

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted in writing from the publisher. Requests for permission should be addressed to Globe Pequot Press, Attn: Rights and Permissions Department, PO Box 480, Guilford, CT 06437.

Lyons Press is an imprint of Globe Pequot Press.

Text design: Sheryl Kober

Layout artist: Sue Murray

Project editor: Ellen Urban

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

eISBN 978-1-4930-0770-7

This account of the worlds greatest race is dedicated to Martin Richard and his smile that makes you smile; Krystle Campbell and her spirit that will always shine bright; Lu Lingzi, who traveled to Boston to share her life with us; and Sean Collier, whose dream to protect and serve will always remain a shining example. I would also like to honor all the victimsboth of spirit and bodyand the great city of Boston.

As a lifelong resident of Boston, I love this city. I love its quaintness and vastness; I love to walk it and sit in it; I love its people and their uniqueness; I love the North End and the South End and everywhere in between. As a fan, runner, and author with Boston Marathon ties, I love the race. I love the day. I love what it stands for and what it is. I love that we have tangible evidence at least once a year that people are good at their core. I love that people go home from the Boston Marathon to their cities around the world and love Boston like I do.

To

Nana Kenny, who inspired me to write

Nana Connelly, whose perpetual smile made a Sunday lunch more than lunch

My father-in-law, Tom Concannon, who showed me courage through a simple walk

My siblings, who arent just my brothers and sisters, but also my friends

My parents, for their love and guidance

My wife Noreen and my son Ryan, for filling my life with love and purpose

Contents

Foreword

When Michael Connelly contacted me to write a bit about his book, 26.2 Miles to Boston , I wasnt overly enthusiastic. It seemed to me that the race had received enough attention as it was. Was I wrong! Connelly writes about the race from many new and interesting angles. You cant help but be seduced by this book. The stories flow one after another, like a marathon runners footsteps. Each story adds to the razzle-dazzle of the races long and colorful history.

Of course, thats exactly what the Boston Marathon has to offerlots of colorful history over the 117 years of the race. But no one has told the stories of the race beyond those of the top runners. Connelly gives other perspectives and thoughts, and I salute him for doing so, as it is only in recent days (as youll see from reading the book) that the top runners have received respect as world-class athletes. As recently as my win in 1975, a well-known Boston sports commentator indicated that the runners at the Boston Marathon werent athletes at all.

Because of my own background as a competitive runner, Ive always been interested in reading about the top runners at the Boston Marathon, and enjoyed the accounts of the race. People like Clarence DeMar, Johnny Kelley, and Joan Benoit Samuelson have told of their exploits as champions at Boston. Todays top racers have been of interest, too, but what I truly enjoyed reading in 26.2 Miles to Boston were the stories that are never toldaccounts of volunteers, police officers, medical personnel, merchants in stores along the route, spectators, officials, and, of course, the so-called average runner. The athletes challenge is what the Boston Marathon is all about. The athletes heart beats inside all of us.

Having run the race thirteen times, won four, and dropped out of the race twice, I know what it feels like to take on the challenge of running the Boston Marathon. Michael Connelly does, too, but he goes on to explore why a simple foot race has the impact it has on runners and non-runners alike. An overly intellectual, sedentary fellow once observed that runners never seem to smile as they run; surely he was never at the Boston Marathon. Had he been, he would have seen the real smiles, the ones with really deep satisfaction behind them.

To run the Boston Marathon is not an easy thing. To write well about it and explain its charisma is even harder. Michael Connellys 26.2 Miles to Boston succeeds in this regard. Not many sports books have the capacity to make you feel as though the event was happening only ten feet away. This one does that. Connelly has exposed the special qualities of the Boston Marathon foot race and why it is more than an ordinary sporting event.

The Boston Marathon endures; it continues on, just as its athletes have done, despite the violent attack in 2013. Maybe the Boston Marathons ultimate strength is that it is a great equalizer of humanitythat it brings people together in peace and friendship. Anyone who has been to Boston knows that.

Maybe its too narrow to say that the Boston Marathon is a road race. Maybe its more accurate to say that its a celebration of life itself.

Bill Rodgers

Preface

Life shrinks or expands in proportion to ones courage.

Anas Nin

The Boston Marathon is a living microcosm of the world that orbits around it. From start to finish, the course serves as a real-life stage on which Shakespearean dramas are played out by thespians in sneakers, with the glory of the finish line in their hearts. Since 1897, when co-leader Dick Grant of Harvard collapsed and John McDermott was carried on the shoulders of admiring fans to victory at the finish line, the race has been a canvas that has heldsimultaneouslyglory and anguish, exultation and exasperation, triumph and, sadly, even treachery.

This was never more apparent than at 2:49 p.m. on April 15, 2013, during the running of the 117th Boston Marathon. At that time in the race many people running on behalf of charities were reaching Boylston Street, only to have the beating heart of the beloved race stopped by the malicious hands of terrorists. Not a single person near the finish line at the moment of impact, or the millions who watched the coverage of it later, could comprehend the purpose of such a senseless and hateful act.

The wonder of the Boston Marathon is that it is a purveyor of competition at its most sincere level, allowing runners to travel in the footsteps of those who have run before. It has gone onand continues to go onno matter what (weather, war, malevolence) swirls around it. This is the story of the 26.2 miles of the Boston Marathona race, and the people who love it, who prove every year that the pure heart of good conquers the blighted spirit of evil. Always.

In the end, despite the horrific loss that day, especially of Martin, Krystle, Sean, and Lu, and the pain that continues for many others, something special happened. Thats the paradox of April 15, 2013. On a day filled with sadness and pain, the people of Boston showed their finest selves. On that day the citys essence shone at its brightest, and its spiritsomehowwas strong enough to overcome.